Which exemption is most closely associated with protecting the sale of broadcasting rights in professional sports?

• A. Baseball's antitrust exemption
• B. The broadcasting exemption in the Sports Broadcasting Act
• C. The nonstatutory labor exemption
• D. None of the above

Answer: (B)

The main idea is that leagues are shielded from antitrust challenges when they pool and license their broadcast rights. This protection comes from the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which specifically creates a broadcasting exemption for professional sports leagues. By allowing leagues to negotiate and sell national TV rights as a single entity, the act helps maximize revenue and prevent individual teams or networks from undermining the market through separate deals.

This is why the broadcasting exemption is the best fit: it targets the exact activity in question—jointly selling and licensing broadcasting rights—where antitrust concerns would otherwise arise. Other options are broader or unrelated to broadcasting rights—the baseball antitrust exemption concerns a different, historical scope of antitrust law, and the nonstatutory labor exemption covers labor relations rather than broadcast licensing.